Sarian Systems has announced that it has partnered with telecommunications OSS network specialist Horsebridge Networks to provide T-Mobile with a bespoke element management system (EMS) to monitor and control its UK mobile microwave backhaul radio network. Following a successful trial monitoring 100 radio links, T-Mobile will now be rolling out the Sarian and Horsebridge solution across a further 1000 base station sites, encompassing a total of 4,500 radio connections.
Horsebridge's Espy EMS monitors T-Mobile radio links on a 24×7 basis, recording radio alarms and performance data. The Sarian DR6460 router connects all radios on site and transmits information back to a central monitoring location via GPRS and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) mobile technology. This means that T-Mobile can use its existing GPRS and HSDPA networks – the latter rivalling fixed broadband for speed and latency – to transmit the data collected in real-time, rather than having to deploy additional fixed-line connections purely for the purposes of monitoring.
The initial deployment has already led to significant reductions in T-Mobile's site visit costs and a reduction in unnecessary equipment replacements. Previously, engineers had no visibility of the status of equipment prior to a site visit. Now, using the combined Espy and DR6460 solution, any fault can be remotely identified and fixed first time, saving time and resources.
These cost savings have enabled T-Mobile to achieve return on investment for the initial deployment. In addition, service quality for customers has been improved during this time, thanks to the solution's ability to identify any losses in radio transmission power – and thus predict when radios are about to fail.
"Our major challenge was to improve network management while keeping costs down, and we have been impressed by Sarian and Horsebridge's ability to tailor the management solution to take advantage of our existing network resources," said Alan Sullivan, transmission manager at T-Mobile. "Since initial implementation we've been able to reduce costs and improve the quality of service to our customers. On the back of these deliverables, we're looking forward to rolling out the management solution across an additional 1,000 sites, in order to achieve further efficiency gains and cost savings."
Given the success of the T-Mobile solution to date, Sarian and Horsebridge have now entered into partnership to provide other organisations with customised network management solutions and point-to-point radio solutions. Amongst other applications, this can enable the provision of internet services on mobile vehicles, using HSDPA to transmit data back and forth.
"Our partnership with Sarian has allowed our Espy generic EMS platform to take advantage of the huge opportunities offered by using HSDPA as a network control medium," said David O'Connor, managing director at Horsebridge. "We are able to offer remote management for a raft of applications in a significantly more cost effective and flexible manner, without incurring the prohibitive cost of fixed-line connections. Our initial concerns were HSDPA network security and reliability, but the features of the Sarian product are impressive, ensuring the data transfers between Espy EMS platform and the managed equipment are never compromised."
"The development of HSDPA has revolutionised what enterprises are able to do with their business-critical communications – whether it's for the purposes of telemetry, surveillance and monitoring, or as an alternative to using broadband," said Duncan Ellison, sales and marketing director at Sarian. "By partnering with leading software providers such as Horsebridge, we're able to help organisations like T-Mobile to fully harness HSDPA's potential and deliver internal benefits as well as helping improve service quality."